B.B. King & Eric Clapton - Three O'Clock Blues (GT)

(1)

PLAY

}

_BLUES

T

hree O’Clock Blues was originally recorded by bluesman Lowell Fulson in 1946, then covered by BB King in 1951. More than any other song, it is responsible for catapulting BB into the international spotlight. Interestingly, recording. There had been a few previous releases produced by Sun Records’

legendary Sam Phillips (pre-Elvis), but sales had been relatively low. However,

sound recording – reputedly made in a makeshift studio at Memphis YMCA – and the raw electricity of BB’s combined vocal and guitar performance, caught the record buying public’s imagination in a big way. Three O’Clock Blues became a live favourite throughout his long career.

Checking out the track listing of BB’s 2000 collaboration with Eric Clapton, Riding tune appears on the running order. It’s not the only version he recorded as a duet with Clapton – giving us an unparalleled

opportunity to compare and learn from these two masters at work. Not just the two

consecutive 24-bar solos, but the way they but never stepping on each other’s toes.

The Riding With The King version clocks in at over eight and a half minutes, much of it very minimal (as it should be) during the vocal sections. Clearly something had to give,

one tune, we’ve opted to transcribe all 48 bars of Eric and BB’s soloing in full, but leave the comparatively sparse verses to your imagination. If you’re determined to take the plunge and learn the whole track note for reiterated in the solos – as you’d expect from players with such established vocabularies. alternatively make a great launch pad for your own improvisations, using the Blues

BB King & Eric Clapton

Three O’Clock Blues

Richard Barrett guides you through a great re-working of

BB’s breakthrough hit with hints and tips on improvisation, plus

a smattering of blues history and a full play-along backing track!

scale patterns provided below. This would certainly be the spirit in which BB and Eric approached the session. Though committing their improvised lines into writing has many of the phrases push and pull against the tempo, giving a very ‘elastic’ and expressive feel that also carries over to the string bends and vibrato – especially in BB’s case. After all, he has done perhaps more than any other guitarist to introduce this than a little interesting to hear how unusual his phrasing is, compared to the scores of imitators that came later.

Perhaps the biggest lesson to be taken from analysing this piece is not the notes themselves, but the rhythm and spacing of the phrasing, lots of pauses (a transcriber’s dream!) and the feeling that these guys are really listening hard to each other, and reacting to each other’s playing moment by moment. It also sounds like they’re having fun – the most important thing of all to remember, whatever you’re playing!

THE BACKING TRACK

COULD MAKE A GREAT

LAUNCH PAD FOR YOUR

OWN IMPROVISATIONS,

IN THE SPIRIT THAT BB

AND ERIC PLAYED

TECHNIQUE FOCUS

Bends and vibrato

Most of us would admit we add vibrato automatically – perhaps indiscriminately – to bends and held notes. Once you’ve got the hang of this notoriously tricky technique, it seems a pity to waste the opportunity to show it oﬀ. But listening back, no longer carried away in that moment, there may be times when you long to hear a pure sustained note for a change. A young Eric Clapton would apparently record many of his practice sessions, then listen back to evaluate the fine details in his playing (including when or when not to add vibrato). Don’t forget that the speed, depth and frequency of your vibrato will probably be unique to you, so don’t feel you have to meet any particular criteria. Listening to how great vocalists use vibrato can be a salutary lesson to us guitarists.

ABILITY RATING Moderate

Key B major Tempo 78 bpm CD TRACKS 8-9

Info

Phrasing Timing Improvisation

Will improve your…

We’re talking about two different players and approaches here, but there are several factors that apply to both. Neither Eric nor BB favour a particularly boosted bass or treble – most of the

action is happening in the mid-range, though Eric’s Strat neck pickup tone is understandably brighter than BB’s humbuckers. Eric’s tone is

slightly ‘pushed’ if not distorted, while BB’s Lucille sounds clean and a little compressed. You can hear the natural room sound, but both

guitars have had a subtle, longer delay added.

GAIN BASS MIDDLE TREBLE REVERB

5 5 ₆ 5

(2)

THREE O’CLOCK BLUES

{

_{BB KING & ERIC CLAPTON}

Here King plays Lucille (ES-355) and Clapton a vintage Gibson L-5CES

TRACK RECORD

The original Three O’Clock Blues is on BB’s debut album, Singin’ The Blues. Another classic is Live At The Regal from 1965,

a huge influence on many up-and-coming blues and rock guitarists of the day. And have another listen to Eric’s playing on John Mayall And

The Bluesbreakers’ Beano album from 1966. Between these three albums, you’ll find enough blues phrasing ideas to last a lifetime!

K M A ZU R / G ET TY IM AG ES

(3)

&

##### 812

E B G D A E

Œ.

ERIC 2:46

Œ. Œ. ‰ œ

œ

.

F

#

13 12

jœ

.œ

BU ( ) 1

‰.

œ œ .œ œ œ~~

~~

jœ

J

œ

BU ( )

Œ

B 7 14 16 12 1312 14 12 14 16

Œ. Œ. œ

Swung

œ œ

jœ

œn

BU ( )

œ .œ~~~

~~~

E7 1312 14 14 15 14 12

&

#####

E B G D A E 3 3

œ œ œ

jœ

œ

BU ( ) ( )

jœ

œ

BD BU ( )

Œ.

B7 12 1416 14 16 11 13

jœn

œ

BU ( )

J

œ

‰

jœ

œ

BU ( )

J

œ

1 4/ 1 4/

œ~~~~

~~~~

.œ

15 19 15 19 15 12

&

#####

E B G D A E 5

œ œ œn

1 4/ 1 4/

œ œ œ œ œ œ

3

œ œ œ

3

œ œ œ .œ

~~~~

Jœ Œ

E 7 12 1512 14 12 14 12151215 12 1312 12

Œ. ‰ œ

BU

œn

BU ( )

œ#

( )

œ œn

3

œ œ œn

_{œ œn œ œn œ œn œ}

3

~~

7 10 7 9 10 11 9 7 9 7 9 8 7 5 7

&

#####

E B G D A E 7

œ

[ ] 3

œn œ œn

3

œ œ œ œn

3

œ œ œ œ Œ. Œ.

B7 7 5 7 8 7 5 7 7 7 8 7 5

œn œ œn œ

jœ

œ œ œn œ œn

œ œ

3

œ œ œ œ œ œn

1 4/

œ~~~~

_{œ .œ œ}

5 7 5 77 9 7 9 7 9 7 7 7 7 10 7

~~~~

7 1 4/ 9 9

&

#####

E B G D A E 9 3

œn

1 4/ 1 4/

œ œ

jœ

œ~~~

~~~

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

3

œ œ œ

jœ

.œ~~~

~~~

œ ‰

F

#

7 10 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 10 7 10 7 10 7 9 79 11 11

Œ.

jœ

œ

( ) BU

œ œ œ œn

BU

œ~~~

( )

œ œ œ œ

1 4/

œ œn

1 4/

œ œ

9 7 7 7 10 10 7 10 9 1 4/ 7 7 1 4/ 9 9 12

~~~

11 GUITAR TECHNIQUES 2 5 6

Richard Barrett's THREE O'CLOCK BLUES - BB King & Eric Clapton

PLAY

}

_BLUES

[Bars 1-8] Eric kicks oﬀ with some melodic B major Pentatonic phrasing (B-C#-D#-F#-G#). The ‘elastic’ approach to rhythm is immediately apparent, given the syncopated phrasing in bar 1, then the swung semiquavers in bar 2. It’s unlikely that two consecutive takes would be identical, so while you want to be in control of the bigger picture, allow some room for expression. Some wide bends and semiquaver/triplet flurries then see Eric shift his attention to the

shape 1 B Blues scale (B-D-E-F-F#-A) for the underlying B major chord.

[Bars 9-12] Eric stays in this territory for the next four bars – until the end of the chord progression. The phrasing is a little more constant, with minimal pauses and lots of quarter tone ‘blues’ bends, slides and selective vibrato. These are absolutely key if you want to nail the Clapton feel – much more important than fancy licks, though if that’s your thing, I refer you to bar 9.

PLAYING TIPS

Universal Music Publishing MGB Limited. US/UK Reproduced by kind permission of Music Sales Limited.

(4)

&

#####

E B G D A E 11

.œ

~~~~

.œ

œ œn œ œ

( ) PB9

œ

3

œ œ œ œ œ œn œ

B7 E 7 9 7 9 7 9 9 7 9 9 10 9 11

œ œ œn œ œ œ

3

œ œ œ œ~~~

~~~

.œ

1 4/

œ œ

~~~

‰ ‰

œ

.

.œ

1 4/

œ

B 7 F

#

7 7 9 7 9 9 9 7 9 9 7 1 4/ 9 9

~~~

12 1 4/ 14 12

&

#####

E B G D A E 13 3

œ

3:43

œ œ œ

.

_{. œ}

3

œ œ

3

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ . œ œn

.

œ

.

œ

.

œ

.

œ

.

B7 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 17 14 17 14 17

.œ

PB17 ( )BD

œn

( )

œ Œ

3

œ œn œ

BU 3

œ

( )

œ œ~~~~

~~~~

œ ‰

E7 19 17 14 15 17 19 15 17 16

&

#####

E B G D A E

( )

15

Œ

_Jœ

œn œ ‰

jœ

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ Jœ

.

Œ

B7 10 12 12 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 12

&

#####

E B G D A E

( )

16

œn œ ‰ œ

( )BD PB17

œ

( )

Œ

œ

BD PB17 ( )

œ

( )

œ

.

_‰

jœ

3

œ

BU ( )

œ œn œ .œ~~~œ œ

BU 17 14 19 17 19 17 14 17 19 17 15 15 17 16 16

~~~

œ

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ

3

œn œ œ . œ

( ) PB17 3

œ œ œ Jœ

1 4/

Œ Œ.

E7 17 19 17 15 17 19 17 15 15 1 4/ 16 16

&

#####

E B G D A E

( )

18

Œ. ‰ œ œ œn œ

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ œ œ œ œ œ

jœ

3

œ

BU ( ) BD

œ

( )

œ~~

~~

œ œ

.

15 1717 19 17 15 17 15 171719 17 15 13 16 16 16

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ

jœn

_œ#

BU ( )

œ œ œ~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~

œ .œ .œ

B7 17 19 17 15 16 16 2

THREE O’CLOCK BLUES

{

_{BB KING & ERIC CLAPTON}

[Bars 13-16] Some rapid alternate picking and shape 4 B minor Pentatonic way up at the 14th fret begin Eric’s second round. You can hear he’s really digging in with the pick on those high notes and exaggerating the staccato hits to emphasise the silent pauses. All that string bending can be hard on the fingers, so be sure to take regular breaks.

[Bars 17-20] A pause at the end of bar 17 facilitates a shift to a kind of hybrid

between an E7 arpeggio and shape 4 B minor Pentatonic. This tapers oﬀ with a long sustained note, leading to another shift that has lots in common with B minor Pentatonic shape 1, but adds a G# (the 6th in this key) plus a few major 3rds (D#). As this ambiguity between major and minor is such a key feature of the blues, there’s no one recommended way of viewing it. Play it through a few times and it will become second nature – hopefully problem solved!

PLAYING TIPS

BB King & Eric Clapton: Riding With The King - Guitar Recorded Versions. (Guitar Tab, with chord symbols, 152pp, £16.95 ref.

AM968242). Authentic transcriptions of all the songs from BB King and Eric Clapton’s Grammy award-winning collaborative album. This excellent songbook includes every track, including Days of Old, Three O’Clock Blues and Come Rain or Come Shine.

(5)

&

#####

E B G D A E 20

Œ.

Loco

‰

jœ

œn

Lay back

œ œ œ

jœn

_{œ# œ œ œ œ Œ Jœ}

9 10 9 7 9 7 8 9 9 7 6 9

jœ

œ œ œ

jœ

œn

BU ( ) 3

œ œ œ œ

jœ

œ œ~~

~~

3

œ

Lay back

œ

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ

1 4/ 1 4/

‰ Œ.

F

#

7 6 8 7 99 10 9 7 9119 11 10121214 10

&

#####

E B G D A E 22

Œ. œ œ

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ .œ~~~

~~~

œ œ œ

jœ

œn

BU ( )

œ

14 16 14 12 12 14 14 15 14 13 13

.œ~~~~

~~~~

œ

jœn

_J

œ

BU ( )

‰

œ

1 4/ 1 4/

œ œ~~~

~~~

œn œ œn œ

B7 E7 12 15 19 15 12 10 7 10 9

&

#####

E B G D A E 24

œn

Loco

œ

jœ

œ# œ ‰ ‰

j¿

œn œ œ œ œ œ .œ~~~

~~~

jœ

3

œ

BU ( ) BD ( )

œ œn .œ

1 4/ 1 4/

œ

B7 F

#

7 7 9 7 8 7

¿

10 7 9 7 7 7 7 9 9 7 9 11

&

#####

E B G D A E 25

.œ~~

~~

4:49

jœ

œ

BU ( ) B.B. KING

Jœ

jœ

œ

.

BU ( )

œn œ œ~~~

~~~

œ œ œ ‰

B7 7 14 16 14 12 14 10 12 12 14 13

Œ.

‰

jœ

œ

BU ( )

jœ

_Jœ

BU ( )

œ

_‰

_jœ

_œn

BU BD ( )

œ

( ) E9 14 16 14 16 14 19 14 15 14

&

#####

E B G D A E 27

œ

Loco

œ œ~~~

~~~

Swung

œ œ œ œ œ

_Œ.

jœ

.œ

BU ( ) Lay back

œ œn

( ) PB 12

œ

( ) PB 12 1 4/ 1 4/ 14 12 12 13 12 14 13 14 16 12 13 13

œ

BD ( ) PB 12

J

œ

( )

.œ~~

jœ

œ

BU BD ( )

œ

( )

œ œ

_{‰ J}

œ

.

_Œ

B7 14 12 12

~~

14 16 14 12 13 14 3

PLAY

}

_BLUES

[Bars 21-24] For the final four bars of Eric’s solo, he flits between several positions – this acts as a kind of consolidation to wind up his main solo over the chord turnaround. There are an awful lot of useful ideas concentrated into these four bars, so take the time to fully absorb them.

[Bars 24-28] The last note of Eric’s solo leads to the beginning of BB’s. A favourite trick is to punctuate solos with a high exclamatory note (see bar 26 for the high B at the 19th fret). You’ll also hear phrases landing on the 6th (G#) – another BB trademark, though you’ll have noticed it in Eric’s playing too.

(6)

&

#####

E B G D A E 29

Œ

œn

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ œ œn œ œ œ œ .œ~~~

~~~

œ

jœ

œ

BU ( ) BD

œ

( )

œ œ ‰

E7 17 17 19 17 17 15 15 14 14 12 12 14 14 15 14 12 13

Œ

Jœ œ Jœn

1 4/ 1 4/

.œ~~

~~

Loco

œn œ œ

14/ 1 4/

œ œ

jœ

œ

BU BD ( )

œ

( )

œ

1 4/ 1 4/ 19 10 7 10 7 9 7 9 11 9 7

&

#####

E B G D A E 31

œ œn œ Œ

..œ¿~~~

~~~

œ œn œ œ œ œ

~~

‰

jœ

œn

BU ( )

œ œ œ œ

1 4/ 14/ B7 X 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 10 9 7 9 7

œ œ œ œ ‰ Œ Jœ

œ

‰

œ œn œ œ œ œ œ œ œn

9 9 8 9 7 7 12 10 12 12 10121012 10

&

#####

E B G D A E 33

Jœ Œ ‰

jœ

œ

BU ( ) 4:3

œ œ œ œ

4:3

œn œ œ œ

F

#

7 14 16 14 12 12 12 15 14 14 14 11 3

œ œ œ œ

~~~ .œ

jœ

_Jœ

BU ( )

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ

BD

œ

( )

œ

jœn

.œ

BU ( ) E 7 12 14 12 14 12 12

~~~

14 16 12 15 17 13

&

#####

E B G D A E 35

jœ

œ

Loco BU ( )

.œ œ .œ~~

~~

J

œœ

.

_Œ

œ~~

~~

Jœ

B7 E7 14 16 12 1312 1213 12 13

jœ

œn

BU ( ) BD

œ

( )

œ œ

_‰

jœ

œ

BU ( ) BD 3

œ

( )

œ œ œ

jœ

œ

BU ( ) BD

œ

( )

œ

.

‰

jœ

3

œ

BU ( ) BD

œ

( )

œ œ

.

_‰

B7 F

#

7 14 15 14 12 13 14 15 14 1213 1114 15 14 12 14 15 14 1213

&

#####

E B G D A E 37

..œ¿

5:34

œ

_jœ

_œn

BU ( )

œ œn œ

_Jœ

~~

jœ

œ#

BU ( )

Œ.

B7 X 19 12 13 12 10 12 12 14 16

œ œ

jœ

œ

BU ( ) 4:3

œ

jœ

œn

BU ( )

œ œn œ œ œ œ œ~~

~~

œ œ œ

jœ

œ#

BU ( ) E 7 14 16 1412 13 12 12 15 15 14 14 12 12 14 16 13 13 4

THREE O’CLOCK BLUES

{

_{BB KING & ERIC CLAPTON}

[Bars 29-32] Shifting positions for the E7, or V chord, the first phrase travels horizontally through shapes 4 then 3 of B minor Pentatonic, with a particularly elastic approach to the tuning. Our version has quantised this a little – not an attempt to ‘improve’ on BB’s performance, it just sounded silly when trying to copy him! There’s some nice pick attack on those later shape 1 Pentatonics too.

[Bars 33-37] Did I mention those 6ths? Here are lots more of them, as BB builds towards the end of the first round. These licks could be said to derive from the shape 3 Pentatonic, incorporating those extra G#s as a bluesy ‘colour’. This alone can give your playing more of a BB King feel. The use of this blend of shape 3 with added notes has become known as the ‘BB Box’.

(7)

&

#####

E B G D A E

( )

39

jœ

œ

BU ( )

‰ Œ.

..œ¿~~~

~~~

jœ

4:3

œ

BU ( )

œ œ

jœ

œ

BU ( ) B 7 X 19 14 16 14 16 14 14 14 16

œ œ œ œ~~~

~~~

œ œ œ ‰ Œ

jœ

Jœ

BU BD ( )

œ

.

( )

œ

.

‰

7 12 14 12 12 12 12 7 12

&

#####

E B G D A E

( )

41

‰

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ œn

1 4/

œ œ œ œ œn œ

.

Œ. ‰

jœ

3

œn

BU ( ) BD

œ

( )

œ œ

.

E9 12 14 12 10 1 4/ 12 10 12 13 12 10 12 12 10 12 12

‰ œ œn œ

4:3

œ œ œ œ œ œ œ

3

œ œn œ œ œ¿

7

œ œœ œœ œn œ

X 10 12 14 12 10 12 10 10 7 12 12 12 10 7 10 7 7 9 7 9

&

#####

E B G D A E 43

œ

Loco

.œ

n

1 4/ 1 4/

œ œn œ

jœ

_{œ œ œ œn œ œn jœ}

.

Œ

œ œ œ#

jœ

œ# œ œn

B7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 7 9 8 7 5 7 7 5 67 9 7 5

œ œn œ œ œ œn

Œ. ‰ œ

œn œ~~

~~

œ œœ

7 5 7 5 7 5 7 10 7 107 9

&

#####

E B G D A E 45

.œ~~

~~

œ

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ œ

‰

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ

jœ

œ

BU ( )

œ

_jœ

_œ

BU BD ( )

œ

( )

jœ

œ

BU ( ) BD

œ

( )

œ

.

F

#

7 7 7 9 11 7 9 9 12 9 7 9 7 9 11 9 7 9 7 5

œn œ œ œ œn

_jœ

_{œ œ Œ ‰. œ}

slow slide

œ .œ

E9 4 12 19 3 2 4 3 2 4 6 7

&

#####

E B G D A E

( )

47

œ

‰ œn

1 4/ 1 4/

.œ~~~

~~~

‰

jœ

Loco

œn

BU ( ) BD

œ

( )

œ œ œn œ

_.

‰

B 7 E 7 19 10 7 9 10 9 7 9 7 9

Œ

_Jœn

14/ 1 4/

œ œ œ œ œ

.

Œ.

jœ

..œœ œœ ‰

B7 F

#

7 7 9 7 7 9 9 7 79 77 5

PLAY

}

_BLUES

[Bars 38-41] Sticking with the same position, but adding one of those high root notes at the 19th fret, this section is more about rhythm and pitch variation than knowing lots of licks. Try each phrase and see how closely you can emulate it. This is a great way to absorb new ideas.

[Bars 42-45] Here, BB gets things shifting, moving from shape 3 to shape 1, adding the odd major 3rd (D) as he descends to the sixth string. A real bend-fest in bar 45 takes us way down to the lower reaches of the fretboard. This is

surprisingly tricky (BB did have some chops!), so take your time.

[Bars 46-48] For the final couple of phrases, we’re jumping around the fretboard a little. It’s interesting to compare this with how Eric closes his solo; from the 4th fret up to the 19th for another of those root notes, landing in a shape 1 style phrase, incorporating the home key’s 6th (G#) at the very end. So there you have it – yes, there are always new patterns to learn, but it’s often about being fully ‘present’ when playing the ones you do know.